Trouble's Brewing Company: Budget set-up for apartment dweller

When space and water are limited you really need to give a lot of thought to your home brew set-up. I just taught a co-worker, Josue, how to brew all-grain yesterday. He and his wife are apartment/condo dwellers with a balcony and a garage. Space is limited! They said they want to use propane. Style-wise Josue's wife prefers stouts. They initially budget $500, but it can be done for less; furthermore, if they move into a house this set-up will serve them well for years to come.

If I were them, this would be my shopping list:

$30: empty propane tank at Costco

$45-55: high pressure burner from local flea market

$55-65: 8-gallon stainless steel pot from local flea market / Goodwill
$45-50: 5-gallon stainless steel pot from local flea market / Goodwill
* I recommend $15 for a copper or stainless steel/heat resistant spout with appropriate connector from Home Depot. I also recommend adding a temperature gauge as well. Use on both pots. (Josue has access to a welder)

$20 for a 10-gallon water cooler (Igloo style or rectangular) from local flea market or Craiglist
$25 for copper or stainless steel fittings with appropriate connector from Home Depot
* Build a mash tun or better yet one with a temperature gauge.

QTY: 2 at $15 for Bazooka Screen for mash tun and Brew Kettle from Home Depot

$25 digital scale from Amazon

$60 Wort Chiller (beer runs through) Freecycle/Craigslist for a 40 quart cooler plus copper tubing and run off to go directly into your carboy. The beer runs through copper tubing in ice water. Here's how to make it.

* A counterflow wort chiller can be made for home owners.

$25 for a 6-6.5 gallon carboy (prefer 6 gallon with blow off tube to get rid of by-product) from Craigslist

$15-20 for a 5 gallon carboy (needed for secondary) from Craigslist

$6 for two airlocks from local homebrew shop

$5 floating thermometer from local homebrew shop

$7 hydrometer from local homebrew shop

$100 for a CO2 tank and regulator from Craigslist (Josue has a soda keg already).
* Otherwise a used bottle capper can be found for under $10.

$5-35 for a copper sparge swing arm. Can be easily made, such as this.

$2.50 stainless steel spoon with long handle from local restaurant wholesaler

**** Please note that this is not meant for people who plan to "just try home brewing out". This is an expensive set-up and is for people who are committed. This set-up is comprehensive and will last so many years I can not count on two hands and two feet and it will serve you well. It will allow Josue to mass produce beer in 5-gallon batches quickly and frequently. He will have little down time with this system and can hope for 80-90% efficiency once he masters it.

I sent the following email to my brother-in-law to be, which may prove useful for the apartment dweller:

So I have done a bit of research lately and thinking about apartment/town house living and how to best start off home brewing with all-grain and using a budget-friendly system. Storage space is a priority and so are resources like water, meaning you can't run water through your immersion wort chiller for 30 minutes or more. So my system I recommend takes this into consideration. First step is to sign up for FreeCycle in your area and follow Craigslist Free Stuff regularly. Other items can mostly be purchased used, such as 5-gallon carboys should cost $15.

Read me:

http://www.davincisworld.com/CastleRooms/Brewery/HomeBrew.htm

Good resource -- food for thought:

Mash tun design:

http://www.azega.com/converting-a-cooler-into-a-mash-tun/

http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=88067

Wort chiller design:

http://homebrewhead.com/tag/diy/

Sparge system (of course you can batch sparge):

Sparge costs $35 plus, but you can make one for $10:

http://www.bohack.com/2010/10/how-to-make-a-rotating-fly-sparge-arm-for-all-grain-brewing/

Video: